Strategic Alliance Fuels AI Advancement Across Malaysia, Hong Kong & the Greater Bay Area
Collaboration Enhances Sunway iLabs as a Crucial Hub for Deep-Tech & AI Startups
Sunway iLabs, the innovation laboratory and corporate venture capital division of the Sunway Group, has forged a pivotal partnership with the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund (AEF) – NextGen Fund. This strategic alliance aims to fortify cooperation among Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
The collaboration grants Sunway iLabs access to groundbreaking AI advancements emerging from Hong Kong.
It simultaneously establishes Sunway’s integrated ecosystem as an experimental platform where AI startups can examine pragmatic applications and explore regional pathways for integration.
Moreover, it establishes a reciprocal conduit for startups from both regions, facilitating accelerated market penetration, collaborative R&D initiatives, and cross-border technology transfers.
Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem continues to exhibit remarkable vigor, as evidenced by the 67 IPOs finalized on the HKEX over the initial nine months of 2025, as reported by KPMG.
This remarkable 50% surge compared to the previous year signifies augmented market confidence and a more vigorous pipeline of rapid-growth enterprises.
The uptick in A+H stock market listing applications—from a paltry five filings in 2024 to a staggering 83 in 2025—further cements Hong Kong’s status as a critical financial nexus, allowing Chinese tech enterprises to tap into global capital while providing international innovators with streamlined access to the Chinese market.
Since its inception in 2015, AEF has channeled over US$100 million (RM412 million) into more than 80 startups, including WeLab and Airwallex.
It plays a vital role in Hong Kong’s innovation framework through initiatives such as Jumpstarter, which stands as one of Asia’s most impactful startup events, boasting over 520,000 attendees, and HKAI Lab, a groundbreaking accelerator that has aided more than 100 AI startups.
Partnering with the AEF–NextGen Fund underscores our enduring commitment to propel innovation and sustainable growth.
We aim to harmonize Malaysia’s multifaceted environment for scaling with Alibaba’s extensive technical expertise and research network, facilitating the next generation of innovators in bringing transformative solutions to the marketplace, as articulated by Matt van Leeuwen, Chief Innovation Officer of Sunway Group and CEO of Sunway iLabs.
Our collaboration with Sunway iLabs epitomizes the AEF–NextGen Fund’s mission to act as a conduit for AI startups from Hong Kong and Greater China to venture into Malaysia and the broader Southeast Asia region.
By harnessing our robust ties within the global Alibaba framework, we perceive boundless opportunities to unearth shared value as we collectively promote the evolution and adoption of AI across various sectors, remarked Cindy Chow, CEO of AEF.
The AEF–NextGen Fund’s recent investment in Infinigence AI, a Beijing-based firm specializing in AI compute optimization, exemplifies its unwavering commitment to support ventures aligned with long-term AI development and international growth.
Through this partnership, Sunway iLabs will gain critical access to high-potential AI innovations emerging from Hong Kong’s and the GBA’s vibrant innovation communities, while involving Sunway’s 13 subsidiaries spanning sectors such as healthcare, education, retail, and construction.
Additionally, this collaboration solidifies Sunway’s connections with premier institutions—including Damo Academy and various Hong Kong universities—to enhance deep-tech proficiencies and cultivate future talent in Malaysia.
Simultaneously, it intensifies Sunway University’s position as a pivotal engine for innovation and talent by fostering applied research partnerships, expanding experiential learning opportunities, and developing more robust talent pipelines attuned to genuine enterprise demands.
In parallel, AI startups from Hong Kong and the GBA will have the opportunity to investigate tangible use cases and viable market-entry avenues in Malaysia and Southeast Asia via Sunway’s integrated ecosystem.
This bilateral collaboration not only augments market penetration for startups across both regions but also bolsters joint R&D initiatives and facilitates technology transfers across borders.
Recognized by the Malaysian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association as a leading corporate venture capital entity, Sunway iLabs has significantly contributed to Malaysia’s startup landscape through co-investments with partners such as Hive SEA, Gobi Partners, and Kejora Capital.
Its extensive global network—including affiliations with a16z in Silicon Valley, CICC in China, and Cambridge Deeptech Labs in the UK—positions Sunway iLabs as a strategic innovation gateway linking avant-garde technologies to Southeast Asia’s rapidly evolving dynamics.
Source link: Digitalnewsasia.com.
